


Bullets, fear and brothers in all but name

by Its_Raineing_Words



Category: Mafia (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 09:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1600199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Raineing_Words/pseuds/Its_Raineing_Words
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vito has a nightmare and Joe tries to help, though it doesn't work too well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bullets, fear and brothers in all but name

Bullets rained down on them like a deadly hail, people were dying everywhere around him. People screaming in both Italian and English as they all tried desperately to find cover before they were killed too. Most people did not get that lucky but Vito did-he hid in a bush like the coward he was as his brothers in arms died around him. He found himself wanting to wail at the pure horror of it all but could not. He couldn’t do anything, he could not speak, move or even cry. When suddenly a voice yelled nearby he knew he had been spotted; he also knew that if he didn’t run now he’d die and so he did.  
Vito had never run so fast in his life, he dodged trees and rocks when a shot went off hitting him in the leg. He fell like a stone but he felt no pain, maybe it hadn’t caught up to him yet.  
“Vito!” Huh? How did they know his name? “Vito!” The yelled was louder, “VITO!”  
He woke up with a start to see a figure looming over him, adrenaline still pumping through his veins he lunged at it and had his hands around its throat, strangling him before he realised it was Joe.  
He let go at once and leapt up pressing himself back against the wall, heart pounding hard enough to choke him. Self loathing hit him and he punched the wall in his anger. How could he hurt Joe?  
“Vito, I heard you yelling so I came to wake you up.” Joe chuckled awkwardly before becoming more serious, “Anyway, I know that Army boys sometimes get bad dreams I-maybe we could- I don’t know talk about it. But if you don’t want I-I understand. I mean not being in the army but you not wanting to talk about it.”  
“No Joe it’s fine, I just, it was unnerving is all.” Vito shrugged peeling himself off the wall and sitting heavily in a chair.  
“Sounded more than just unnerving to me.” Joe muttered opening the fridge to get two beers. He put both in front of him “Looks like you need both of those more than I do. Besides I want to be sober for this.” If Joe’s attempts to give Vito some privacy are well meant they don’t last more than a minute. It just wasn’t how they were if there was something worth knowing about the other they’d know it. That included dreams, even the dirty ones though it was only Joe who felt like sharing his.  
Vito shrugged, “I was in this forest and we were getting shot and people were dying and-“  
“Wait but you were never in any woods, I know, I read the papers. And asked your Ma.” Vito remembered to thank Joe for looking after his Ma when he couldn’t.  
“Yeah Joe but it was a dream. The thing about dreams is they don’t have to have happened.” He rolled his eyes, “Now can I continue or is there something else you want to say?”  
“No, no!”  
“Ok then, so there were the bullets and everyone was tryna get to cover so I hid in a bush.”  
“That’s a stupid place to hide!”  
“It was a dream Joe, dreams don’t make sense.” Vito growled but was actually starting to feel better by talking about his nightmare in such a candid way, ” I was hiding in that bush when they found me so I ran and got shot in the leg.” He left out how the corpses were his friends and how their screams in the dream sounded an awful lot like the ones that played over and over in his mind from the war, Joe didn't need to hear that.  
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Joe said finally after some consideration.  
“Yeah well maybe I’m just a big baby then.” If anyone other than Joe said that they would have got a punch but it actually made him feel better, like everything could maybe be normal someday even if he knew it couldn’t.  
“Well, if you're not drinking those I am! ” Joe grabbed the bottles pulling the top off one with his teeth which Vito couldn’t do, or at least not without chipping a tooth, he yelled and grabbed a bottle reaching over for the bottle opener on the counter.  
“Salute!” Joe raised his bottle.  
“Salute.”


End file.
